1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game progress management device whereby a prescribed number of terminal devices whereby operations are received from players are connected so as to be capable of mutual communication of the necessary operation signals for the progress of a game through a communication circuit, management of the progress of a network game played in a common game space is conducted and whereby the network game is continued in simulated fashion if a fault occurs in the aforesaid communications circuit, a game server device, a terminal device, a game management method and a game management program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various video-game devices whereby games can be played by a plurality of players have previously been proposed or are already being employed. Also, for arcade games, video-game devices are known wherein a plurality of video-game devices (terminal devices) of the same type are provided, the plurality of video-game devices being connected through a network (and server) such as a LAN or the internet, and whereby a plurality of players can play a game in a common game space. In such video-game devices, table games such as mahjong or chess, and competing games such as sport games or fighting games can be conducted.
When such table games or competing games are being conducted, since a plurality of video-game devices are connected through a network (and server) such as a LAN or the Internet, an indefinitely large number of players can participate in the game. In this way, compared with an ordinary game in which a contest is conducted with the video-game device itself as the opponent using the video-game device in stand-alone mode, the game can be given a certain interest in that an unexpected element is introduced into the progress of the game since, if a contest is conducted with an unknown partner, the capability etc of the contestants is unknown.
Previously, when a plurality of video-game devices were connected through a communication circuit such as the public switched network, continuance of the game was difficult and the game was sometimes forcibly terminated due to failure of exchange of information between the video-game devices when some fault occurred in the communication circuits, such as a failure of a switch constituting a communication circuit. Such forcible termination of the game impairs players' confidence in the reliability of the game system, is annoying to the players and constitutes a factor causing loss of interest in the game. The above problem is even more important in particular in the case where a wireless circuit is employed as the communication circuit, since such a circuit is frequently subject to electromagnetic interference.
Also, for example in the case of a game modeled on mahjong, since the opportunities for a player to obtain a full hand are rare, if a communication fault occurs when a player is just about to obtain a full hand, causing the game to be forcibly terminated, the player will feel stress such as resentment or anger, which is a factor causing an obstacle to continuous playing of the game.